Sustainability Report 2016 / 2017

Delivery traffic. Whenever possible, we prefer to do business with suppliers located near our site. Of the containers and cartons we require, 49  percent is produced right on our plant premises. We acquire another 16  percent from suppliers within a 100-km radius of Mainz. In-house production of bottles and canisters eliminates about 1,700 truck trips per year. This corresponds to about one million kilometers or 250,000 liters of diesel fuel annually and avoidance of approximately 600 tons of CO 2 each year. Finished Goods Logistics. In keeping with our integral approach, we select our service providers according to their sustainability philosophy. For our major partners such as Dachser, Quehenberger, Schenker and VLOG, sus- tainability is a core element in corporate decision-making. Consequently, for the reporting period from 2008 to 2014 (data for 2015 were not available at time of going to press) in Germany, CO 2 e emissions were reduced by more than 43 percent per ton-km through the use of modern vehicles and rigorous fleet management (monitoring and managing fuel consumption, driving and braking behavior of personnel, etc.). In the same period the share of en- vironmentally friendly vehicles (Euro class 5 and better) increased from 21 percent to more than 84  percent. Vehicle fleet. A vehicle in the fleet for sales companies is replaced af- ter 150,000 km by a vehicle equipped with the latest technology. We use vehicles with particularly environmentally friendly technology (including BlueMotion fromVW), which have lower CO 2 emissions, compared to conven­ tional models. Furthermore, diesel consumption of our vehicles is regularly monitored to allow for quick reaction to unusual changes in consumption patterns. With support from ongoing driver training, which has been offered since 2009, sales representatives have been able to reduce fuel consumption even further and save more than 20,000 EUR. Employee and Customer Information. Our employee newspaper regularly publishes articles on the subject of environmental protection. We also inform employees of environmental topics such as energy-saving measures as part of regular training programs. With regard to customer information, it is in our best interests to present the customer value of our en- vironmentally friendly products. We make a point of mentioning, for example, that Werner & Mertz won the German Sustainability Award in 2009 with our Frosch brand. An increasing number of products from the Frosch and green care Professional brands have been de- veloped in conformance to Cradle to Cradle design and have been certified “Gold”. In 2010 Werner & Mertz kicked off its Recyclate Initiative whose goal is to put PET packaging into a closed loop system and to exploit PET waste as a raw material obtained from the Yellow Bag collection system. The company now does without new petroleum-based plastic completely and produces PET packaging from old plastic. The current share of rPET (recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate) from the Yellow Bag is at 20  percent. Based on knowledge gained from joint research on European surfactants, Werner & Mertz has used do- mestically cultivated plants as raw material in formulas for its Frosch brand products since 2013. As an al- ternative to surfactants made from palm kernel oil, surfactants from native plants offer many advantages, particularly for the protection of tropical rainforests and the conservation of biological diversity. 57 “ What sustainability means to me: engaging in value-added activities that are ecological­ ly consistent and socially responsible. All of this with the involvement of employees and business partners for the benefit of our customers. ” Dr. Detlef Matz Head of Sustainability Management Environmental Statement · Mainz site